Electrophysiological (EP) treatments are procedures used for dealing with heart arrhythmias and related heart diseases. In general, EP heart treatments involve introducing one or more electrodes into the heart where a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure can be carried out. The electrodes are sometimes attached to the tip of an EP catheter. The EP catheter can be used for procedures such as mapping of electrical activity and ablation, the latter procedure using powerful electrodes to destroy small areas of tissue that cause arrhythmia or other heart disorders.
Maneuvering EP catheters into heart chambers can be complicated. The path that must be traversed is often complex. The catheters must be flexible enough to maneuver through convoluted geometries, yet stiff enough to allow pushing and torquing the catheter from a proximal location. Once an EP catheter is in the general location of therapy, a positive contact must be made between the catheter and target heart tissue. Oftentimes the EP catheter contains a preshaped tip optimized for the intended tissue structure. After positioning the catheter within the target area, the shape of the distal end of an EP catheter may not always be ideally suited to the task. In such an event, the catheter must be removed and a different shaped catheter introduced, costing valuable procedure time.
There is a need for an EP catheter that allows easy maneuvering and in-place alteration of the catheter's distal end. The present invention addresses these needs, as well as other deficiencies of prior art implementations and techniques.